Monthly Archives: August 2013

Camera model: Nikon D4, Exposure time: 1/500s, Aperture: F4, ISO speed: 2000, Lens: 500mm Telephoto. Sebastian Vettel caused a bit of a stir on Thursday when he turned up with his new blonde hair. Out in the sunshine it wasn’t that obvious, but as soon as he got in the garage it looked even blonder in the artificial light. To me it looks like he dyed it, but I heard he said he was in Sardinia on holiday and it went blonde in the sun. Who knows, but it was quite funny to see how big a reaction it got.

Photo on left: Camera model: Nikon D4, Exposure time: 1/640s, Aperture: F4, ISO speed: 4000, Lens: 500mm Telephoto. These photos were taken of Fernando during practice and at that stage of the weekend he didn’t look very happy. There was still a lot of talk about unrest at Ferrari and in one of the photos it looks like he is flicking the Vs, but I think it was actually to ask for two of something. I don’t know what he’s doing with his face and his hand, maybe he’s saying he’s fed up with this car and he doesn’t want to look at it anymore! By the end of the weekend people accepted they were the second best team at Spa, but they were out at the wrong time in qualifying and this sort of sums up Alonso’s mood for most of the Grand Prix.

Camera model: Nikon D4, Exposure time: 1/320s, Aperture: F6.3, ISO speed: 200, Lens: 24-70mm Zoom. I love this shot of Giedo van der Garde’s Caterham after he crashed in FP2. The security guard has a massive handlebar moustache and is stood there watching over it. I think it’s a very funny picture and I took it as I was coming back from the session. I saw the car being craned over and there was a guy sat on the front to counter balance the car as it was in the air, but he was actually too heavy and the car tilted forward. The next moment they put it down on the floor with a real whack and I wouldn’t be surprised if they caused a bit of damage to the floor of the car. Nevertheless the team turned it round well for Saturday and van der Garde went on to finish third at the end of Q1.

Camera model: Nikon D4, Exposure time: 1/1000s, Aperture: F10, ISO speed: 400, Lens: 70-200mm Zoom. This gives you the view from La Source down to Eau Rouge at the start with the old pit and control tower on the right and the grandstands to the left. You can see the Astroturf on the exit, which several of the drivers used. They don’t get as much grip on that but it’s better than the old days when their race would have been over in a gravel trap. There weren’t any big incidents like last year and I think they all made it through unscathed, which is pretty impressive for Spa. This view gives you an essence of some the history of the circuit and why it is still a great challenge for the drivers.

Top Photo: Camera model: Nikon D4, Exposure time: 1/1000s, Aperture: F4, ISO speed: 400, Lens: 500mm Telephoto. Somebody actually tweeted these two shots together and they are both taken at the end of the race. You can see all the Red Bull crew hanging out of the pit wall and supporting Vettel, but with Alonso in second he has no support at all. Maybe the team has had enough of his moaning and jeering and second place wasn’t good enough. Okay, he was never going to beat Vettel on Sunday but I think it’s still a bit sad that only his pit board is being displayed from the pit wall. There’s one guy there putting a thumb up but the other Ferrari guy there is actually Massa’s pit board man. The difference between the two tells you a bit about the spirit at the two teams right now.

Camera model: Nikon D4, Exposure time: 1/1250s, Aperture: F7.1, ISO speed: 800, Lens: 500mm Telephoto. This was a funny moment when Lewis Hamilton and Vettel sprayed champagne on David Coulthard as he interviewed Alonso. Vettel and Hamilton came round the back of him and surprised him, which I thought livened up the whole interview because they can be quite boring. He got absolutely soaked and straight in the eyes as well, it’s almost like they left half the bottle so they could spray him.